Coffee maker and dispenser



Nov. 7, 1950 F. E. HUMMEL COFFEE MAKER AND DISPENSER l.. Ils; M

llEgTi-i Flled Dec 19, 1947 Nov. 7, 1950 F. E. HUMMEL 2,529,395

COFFEE MAKER AND DISPENSER Filed Dec. 19, 1947 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Nov. 7, 1950 3 (UNITED STAT 'VCOIFFEE MAKER AND'DISPENSER Frederick E. Hummel,A Chicago, Ill.

I Y Application December 19, 1947, Serial No. 792,646

" 1 claims, (C1. en -302) yThis inventionrrelates to methods and apparatus for making and dispensing liquid comestibles, and particularlyhot drinks. More 'especially' it has to do with equipment for making and. dis-r pensing hot coffee. l The underlying object, as applied, more spe-'- cically, to the making and dispensing of hot coffee, is to providean apparatus,` adapted for use in restaurants and the like, which is operative quickly to 'make fresh coffee, cup by cup, as ordered--thus obviating the necessity of keeping on hand a supply of ready-made hot coffee, while at the same time avoiding resort'to so-calledy instant coffee.

-In addition to making it possible at all times to serve freshly made coffee; Without delay,Y a furtherobject is to save the time of restaurant employees whoheretofore have found it neces-- sary periodically vto divert their attention tothe making of fresh batches of coffee, thus delayingv the performance of their other duties and there-A by seriously reducing the speed at which customers-are serviced-especially during rush hours..

xMy invention is .distinguishedffrom ,prior art practices in the. makingof coffee in that I force hot water in measuredquantities (theprdinary, unit being one cup) through a measured quantity of; ground coffee bean. Preferably, but not neces, s arily, I package the ground coffee bean in Waterpermeable capsules or bagseachbag holding just enough to make one goodpup-ofEcoffeef-and I place the packaged ground coffee bean,one unit at a time, in an apparatuswhich operates to force through the unit the'rqui'site quantity of hot water. f 'I 'In carrying out my invention various mechan? ical arrangementsare possible for measuring the hot water and forcing the same through the ground coffee bean and into'a cup; butI prefer to utilize an apparatus such as that illustrated in the accompanying drawing, Wher'eir`2 Fig. 1 is a side elevation, 'paruyjm .te'eiiid, loffl acoffee maker and dispenser;`

' Fig.` 2 is an enlarged sectional viewillustrating the action of the mechanism and postures of cerj tain parts when theA hot water is being 'forced through the ground coffee bean;

. Fig. 3 is a rear elevation'of the coffee maker' and dispenser shown in Fig. 1.; y y. 2,1. y Fig. 4 is a plan view of a package or.unit con-` taining ground coffee bean; and, I i l Fig. 5 is anfedgewise view-of the same package The apparatus illustrated comprises a cast base Y Il) having a-cavity V.Il for receiving andA Y centering a coffee cup I`2, and forming a-support for a column I3 consisting of a round steel shaft; tothe upper .end of which is firmly attaehedf'af bracket I4. 1

A pair of links I5 are pivotally connected at I6 to bracket I4; and the upper ends of said links are, in turn, pivotally connected at I1 to an, operating lever I8 consisting of two laterallyA spaced parallel bars I8a and Ib. Between said bars there is positioned a vblock I9 having trun-r nions 20 at either side fitting correspondingl openings in bars Isa and Ib, so that said block is rotatable in the plane of Fig. 1. Block Ignis bored to receive a tube or pipe 2 I, which is firmly secured to the block and provided with an elbow. fitting 22 at its upper end, which fitting is con-5 nected, in turn, to a flexible hose 23 connected to a source of hot water, not shown. s .1

l.Acasting 24 having a cylindrical bore 25v is formed with two horizontally extending arms '26 and 21 which are bored to fit slidably on column I3 while being keyed against rotation on said column.

.Y Within 4the cylinder bore 25 and mounted'on the lower end portion of tube 2| is a piston .28' which is faced with a leather or rubber cap 29; secured in place by a nut 3U. Tube 2l functionsI as a piston rod andalso as a conduitfor hotA water, and it is provided at its loweriend with acheck valve 3 I which permits hot water to flow downwardly into the cylinder chamber but pre# vents backward movement ofthe hot water whenthe piston is forced down. The upper'end ofthe cylinder casting is provided with a removable l cylinder head 32, which may include a stufng cylinder and isA desirable, accordingly, forisani-vr tary reasons. .1 w

The lower endvof cylinder casting 24is recessed and internally threaded to receive a perforatedy plug 34, and is formed with an end wall 35 having a central opening 3B. The bottom surface of end wall 35 is finished to form aseat-for a resilient valve disc 31, which is attached .tota metal valve member 38 supported on a coil springv 39 resting on the interior surface of plug: 34. The

valve disc is normally held tightly against` its;l

seat by spring 39 with more than sufficient forcef toy hold, theqvalve closed 'against the pressur'e which obtains within the cylinder chamber, ex-

cept When pressure is added by forcing the .pistonv cylinder casting is moved down, as depicted Fig. 2. Said gasket serves as a liquid-tight seal Vbetween the lower end of the cylinder casting and the upper surface of the spout.

An adjusting screw 44 threaded Yinto casting 40 and passing loosely through an opening in arm 21 serves to limit the upward movement of cylinder casting 24; and a coil spring 445V en-` y circling column I3 presses upwardly on the cylinder casting and normally holds the same in its up position, as shown in Fig. l.

t -A rretractingspring et serves toprestorey handle; |31 t@ tsfupfposition", :as shown 'in Eig... l, .andi incidentally retracts piston 28 to the' position in" which it is shown in the same gurel; The package.V or unit 42, shown in Figs, and

.5; comprises twoY circular pieces 42aand 1421i of porous. cotton fabric .sewed together along'their adcining peripheral `margins and :enclosing: leer` tween themv a suitable quantity of :ground or pulverized coee bean. These. units Vcan he fatta'ched. to yory made part of 'a Vcontinuous stript, asv will hereinafter be describedybut, ,except in cases -where full automaticV operation is war'- ranted, they are fed to the apparatus manually, one at a time, by being. laidy onk theperfo-rated plate 41,. so"1 positioned. as to be confined within the opening of vgasket 43. v.

Disregarding, for the moment, the automatic. feed, which will be described later, Vandfwhich may or'maynot be employed, themode of opera.- tion is; as follows: With the cylinder casting in its. normal Vup position, as ,shown in Fig. l, and with the cylinder lled with hot water, a tunit42 put Yinfplace'on plate ,lili .and handle ,.I`i8 is pulled. 'down manually. x The rstlefectfof Sodoing is toclose valveigasia consequence of the' initial`.f.m"overnent"of. piston V12.8. Thereupon, all the manually exerted force is transmitted" to cylinder casting .24 through the 4body of water. 'Ithe di'sclsi'argeA valve' does not open at A.thi-stimeL because its spring 3.9 is staorrgerthan` spring 45,Y and?, as a result,y the: cylinder castingfmoves down- Wardfly zuntil gasket' .43 is` .in tightfsealing vengage-- menty with the top surface of spouty casting 49. The cylinder casting hasthen reached-fthe lir'ni'tV of vits downward travel and further downward movement `of handle. I8 and piston 28' results in. enouglt'pressure being brought to bear on' the Water in the cylinder to force lopen the discharge valve against 'theresistancev of; spring 39.". The water flowing through the discharger valve being under considerable pressure .is .quickly forced through the coffee-containing unit, an'd'vthence downwardly through passageway .40h intoy cupf vI 2.V

Manifestly, the entire'operation takes vplace within a period oftwo or three seconds. :When the handle is released. lit ,is returned -lby its. retractmgiIspringjtogether with pistonZB', tol

its up position.; .and the upA movemen'tiof piston4 If desired, the cylinder chamber can bepro-y vided with an elecitricV heating rc'oil or immersion heater r.to keep'A the v.water hot when. the demand.-

for coffee is so light that the water would cool off materially between drawings. But without such provision, hot water can be ensured by pumping the piston a few strokes before inserting the coffee-containing package. This will discharge the water that has cooled in the cylinder chamber and bring in a fresh supply of hot water from the heater tank.

Should it be desired to dispense with the necessity of feeding in. the coee-co'ntaining units by hand, the apparatus can be equipped with an automatic feed mechanism of any suitable design; and I have shown one such arrangement wherein the conce-containing units 42 are mounted at equally spaced distances on a long strip 41 of any suitable material such as muslin, paper or cellophane.

In fact,t the strip 4l mayconsitute one side of each unit the other side being a cir-` cular disc of porous cloth or lter paper sewed to the strip. In such case the strip itself would, of necessityybeof vporous material Iariel-preferaltly cotton cloth.v 5`

'l'.l'restri-p"V 4! is shown passing over two'guide pulleys 48 and V49 which hold it in proper align; ment, and it may be fed from asupply reel' 50' and" pulled forwardly, step by step, by 'a drive pulley 51'. The latter is shown' connected "by means 'of a `drive chain-B2i and a pair of sprockets; 53 and '54 to a shaft 52" on which `is motuited and secured a. ratchet wheel 5SL Saidl ratchet Wheel i'sarranged to be. driven .by a ,pawl 5I `carr-.ied by an. arm-.58 which is pivoted on. shaft 5,5' and connected at its distal end toa-y link the upper endof whichfis-:pivotally connected to the rear end offoperating `lever I8. Y, 1 Upon. eachupstroke of lever I8, the ratclfletA wheel. 56 isi advanced tosuch an extent as to bring. about a movement of stripv 417g equal to the.` center to center spacing .of the coffee-containing units thereon. Automatic feed Amechanisms ofV this .generalnaturer are well. known `and' widely Vused in Yconfjunction. with punch. presses, .and .I do Vnotassert that.- .there .any novelty' in .that feature of .my apparatus apart. from` `the general. combinationt i-It .will be apparent that many modifications may be made within the scope and spirit. of' 'my invention and, accordingly, VI do not wish to be limited otherwiseithanas indicated by theterins; ofthe appendedv claims. Y

I claim: Y

1. Apparatus for making'-coiee or'for like pur` poses, 'comprisingvmeans for vsupporting and' yltreating a permeable package of groundv Acoffeev bean orl analogous material from which 'ajsolute is to4` be extracted, said' supporting means being.

adapted to permit liquid .to flow downwardly;'toL

a receiving .receptacle after Ypassing tln'oughfsaid package, a 'member superposed above the said` package and reciprocable vertically toa 'limited extent, 'said' member having; a Yliquid-holdingV fine the flow of liquid emerging from said-fdis"-' charge =to=fa path including saidi'package, and manually controllable meansl tot forcing liquid out of said chamber through said discharge port.

2. Coffee-making and dispensing apparatus comprising: a stationary member adapted to receive and support a permeable p-ackage containing ground colee bean and further adapted to permit hot water to flow downwardly therethrough after passing through said package, a second member mounted above said stationary member and movable vertically toward and away from said stationary member, said second member having a cylindrical pressure chamber and a discharge port at its lower end, a spring-pressed `discharge valve normally closing said discharge port and adapted to be opened by pressure within said chamber, means for establishing a, liquidtight joint between said members when said second member is in down position, so that water can be forced under pressure from said chamber and through said discharge port and said package, a piston reciprocably movable in said chamber, a tubular piston rod carrying said piston and opening into said chamber to form an intake port, a check valve for said intake port, said check valve being operative to admit inflow to said chamber and to prevent outflow therefrom, said piston rod being adapted to function as a conduit for supplying water to said chamber, means for reciprocating said piston rod together with said piston, and a spring normally holding said second member in its up position, said spring being of such stiffness relatively to that of said discharge valve that said second member will move to its down position in response to a ,downward movement of said piston before said discharge valve will open.

3. Coffee-making apparatus comprising a stationary member having a recess adapted to receive and locate a permeable package containing ground coffee bean, said stationary member having a passageway extending downwardly from below said permeable package and adapted to direct hot coffee into a receptacle, a second member mounted above said stationary member and movable vertically toward and away from said stationary member, said second member having a cylindrical pressure chamber and a discharge port at its lower end, a spring-pressed discharge valve normally closing said discharge port and adapted to be opened by pressure within said chamber, an annular gasket carried by one of said members and adapted to form a liquid-tight joint between said members when said second member is in down position, so that water can be forced under pressure from said chamber and through said discharge port and said package, Va piston reciprocably movable in said chamber, a piston rod carrying said piston, an intake port for said chamber, a check Valve permitting inow to said chamber through said intake port, and means for reciprocating said piston rod together with said piston and said second member.

4. Coffee-making and -dispensing apparatus comprising: a base adapted t0 receive a cup, a column extending vertically from said base, a stationary member carried by said column above said base and having a spout portion including a recess for receiving a quantity of ground coffee bean, a perforated plate for supporting the coffee bean, and a passageway leading downwardly from below said plate, a second member reciprocable vertically on said column and located above said stationary member, said second member having a cylindrical pressure chamber and a discharge port at its lower end, said members, conjointly, forming a compartment within which the coffee bean is enveloped when said members are brought together, said discharge port interconnecting said chamber with said compartment, a Valve normally closing said discharge port, said chamber having an intake port, an intake valve for controlling inflow of water to said chamber through said intake port, a piston reciprocable in said chamber, a piston rod connected to said piston, and a manually operable lever for actuating said piston rod and piston. l

FREDERICK E. HUMMEL.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this'patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 41,974 Class et al. Mar. 22, 1864 1,467,778 Paola Sept. 11, 1923 1,837,252 Carter Dec. 22, 1931 2,283,967 Brown May 26, 1942 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 18,541 France Feb. 16, 1914 266,438 Italy July 28, 1929 (addition 439,740) 18,168 Great Britain Oct. 19, 1916 293,551 Great Britain July 12, 1928 

